More Classroom Excerpts

In this section, you will relate Dr. Paratore's lecture and your readings to assessment practices in classroom excerpts.

Now watch first-grade teacher Hildi Perez as she assesses one student in the beginning of the year and then four months later. She uses both formal and informal assessment practices to learn and document information about this child's reading. As you watch, note the classroom contexts Ms. Perez uses for her assessments and the information she obtains from each assessment.

Ms. Perez's Classroom Assessment

Find this segment approximately 31 minutes and 35 seconds after the begining of the video. Watch for about 7 minutes.

After watching the classroom excerpts, consider these questions:

At the beginning of the school year Ms. Perez stated, "I need to know what skills they bring to the classroom, what they know already, what they still need to learn.... So, where do I need to begin with every single child?" What do you want to know about your students when they first come to your classroom? What assessment practices help you to obtain this information?

What classroom contexts did Ms. Perez use to assess Cassandra's reading in the beginning of the year? What classroom contexts were used to assess Cassandra's reading four months later? What were the purposes for her assessment at both times of the year?

What did you learn about Cassandra's reading progress from the assessments in the beginning and middle of the year?

What instruction would you plan based on the results of these assessments?

How else would you assess Cassandra's literacy development?

You may want to watch the workshop participants discuss Ms. Perez's assessment practices.
Find this segment approximately 38 minutes and 25 seconds after the begining of the video. Watch for about 8 minutes.